Daedalus, Lance of the Wastes
Daedalus, Lance of the Wastes, is a legendary weapon whose whereabouts is currently unknown, and whose existence is hotly debated. History The forging of Daedalus is a widely discussed aspect of the lance among historians. Some insist it was crafted several centuries before the Zone War, and others prefer to suggest that this fabled weapon existed prior to the creation of Monde itself, accompanying the Gods as they descended upon the formless void, and made Monde whole. Despite this lofty attribution, common consensus is held that Daedalus was forged by the first beings to walk the lands, and contains no inherent magical or astral powers, though this cannot be proven. Throughout many oral traditions among various species and civilizations on Monde, tales of a spear-like weapon surface on occasion, usually accompanying situations of great conflict. In most instances, the appearance of a spear-like weapon acts as a metaphor for destiny or fate which has, in turn, generated such colloquial names as 'Spear of Fate'. After the Zone War, mentions of such a spear simply ceased to exist in the oral or written traditions of the many cultures around Monde. Few historians have focused on the subject, as most of the knowledge of Daedalus exists in brief in the rudimentary written records of civilizations, but this is not to say that the proliferation of such references are not widespread. As such, some historians of Daedalus suggest that the cataclysm at Zone was the final, and indeed decisive appearance of the 'Spear of Fate'. ::: The Cataclysm in Zone was the final link in the chain of profound events ::: that helped, indeed, to shape the world of Monde. For Daedalus, it was ::: the single most important event that Monde had ever seen, for following ::: the disaster in Zone, Daedalus ceased to be. Moreover, the physical ::: entity was not the only part of the fabled Lance that no longer existed; ::: the memory in the folklore and storytelling practices of many of 'the '' ::: ''inhabitants of Monde also disappeared... almost as if the great events ::: of Zone pierced the minds of all peoples in Monde, and wiped the ::: slate clean. ::::::: Caskill von Goodenhaum, VK 12 Legacy The appearance of Daedalus in the lore and mythology and historical annals of many civilizations is the most intriguing aspect of the lance, for it has played no small role in shaping the outcome of events that possess great importance. In recent years, there has been a nominal resurgence in the awareness and proliferation of the tale of the Lance. This has been encouraged almost entirely by the work of the noted lance historian Caskill von Goodenhaum. From his research, which spanned the mythological and folkloric accounts of many cultures, von Goodenhaum deduced that not only was Daedalus subject to appear during times of great stress, but that it was also highly powerful, and destructively biased. As a result, Daedalus has earned the moniker 'Lance of the Wastes', because of its propensity to do damage to influence the course of history, rather than be used as a deterrent.